Vagabond Cruise

Vagabond Cruise

Vagabond Cruise
4.5
Boat ToursSightseeing ToursDolphin & Whale WatchingNature & Wildlife Tours
8:00 AM - 8:00 PM
Monday
8:00 AM - 8:00 PM
Tuesday
8:00 AM - 8:00 PM
Wednesday
8:00 AM - 8:00 PM
Thursday
8:00 AM - 8:00 PM
Friday
8:00 AM - 8:00 PM
Saturday
8:00 AM - 8:00 PM
Sunday
8:00 AM - 8:00 PM
About
Vagabond Cruise is Hilton Head Island's original sightseeing & excursion cruise operator located below the Lighthouse in world-famous Harbour Town since 1968. From dolphins to dinner, Savannah to sailing Vagabond has the cruise for you! Public trips and private charters are available year-round. We hope to welcome you aboard soon!
Hilton Head, South Carolina
Meets animal welfare guidelines

Awards
Travelers' Choice
2024

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Tours and Tickets by Vagabond Cruise
Travelers talk about

Most Recent: Reviews ordered by most recent publish date in descending order.

Detailed Reviews: Reviews ordered by recency and descriptiveness of user-identified themes such as wait time, length of visit, general tips, and location information.

Popular mentions

4.5
4.5 of 5 bubbles2,098 reviews
Excellent
1,441
Very good
323
Average
161
Poor
79
Terrible
94

SteveAndPeachie
Virginia Beach, VA70 contributions
4.0 of 5 bubbles
Nov 2021
We left Harbour Town dock next to the lighthouse in Hilton Head for an up front view of the low country. Upon coming aboard we all got our photos taken and on the return trip we were offered a very nice folder frame with our photo and a photo of the Hilton Head Lighthouse for $12. There was an enclosed heated deck with cash bar and an open but covered upper deck. The captain invited people to join him in the wheel house, very limited seating. The trip was a little less than two hours and docked at River Street, Savannah. A Bus tour of historic Savannah was offered while aboard the boat. We enjoyed the almost four hour round trip but next time would probably drive to save time.
Written November 7, 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Tina
2 contributions
4.0 of 5 bubbles
Jul 2023
This trip we did the sunset dinner cruise. The food was good, the cruise was relaxing. Only criticism I must mention is we waited a while on a drink refill. Our steward was focused for a while on this one larger group who kept asking her for more drinks. She’d bring something then they’d ask for more. In that case other customers such as us were neglected. May want to have more than one steward serving a whole deck drinks to prevent this from happening to other people. Thanks!
Written July 29, 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Eaglerock65
Wenatchee, WA3 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Sep 2023
Even though our 9:00 expedition passed through a few raindrops, the water was very calm and made for a memorable and informative trip. Captain Mark and the crew had a boat full of wanna-be shrimpers aged from 5 to maybe 80 years… They pulled of their “cat-herding” task with patience and aplomb, as we hauled in a catch that provided more than enough white shrimp to share (three of the seventeen passengers took no shrimp home !?) This was an awesome experience that I would do again ..
Written September 28, 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

ChildOfTheSixties
Jersey16 contributions
3.0 of 5 bubbles
Mar 2024
I can't fault Vagabond for the cold and windy weather or only one dolphin at the beginning of the trip BUT I can wag my finger at them for the absolutely lousy signage and instructions for finding the boat. We put the address in our GPS and we were brought to the end of a road with no indication where the boat was or where to park for it.. On top of that, it was an extremely busy Sunday and there was no parking to be found anywhere near the end of Lighthouse Road. We parked a good 20 minute walk away but even on foot were unable to find anyone who knew what we were talking about. By chance my husband noticed a small kiosk with "Vagabond" written on it. Within were three giggly teens who could have cared less that we were waiting to talk to them. They checked the tickets I had on my phone and pointed in the direction of where we had originally driven. When we asked for more specific instructions, one sighed and said they would walk us there. Once at the water there were NO signs that this was where our boat was docked. (Would it have killed them to have a "Vagabond" sign somewhere??) The only sign was a small 6" x 6" sign on a vertical pole that said "all boats," Once on that, we still didn't know exactly where to go but kept going until the very very end was a boat that had "Vagabond" written on its side, but of course this boat was blocked by other bigger boats. There wasn't even a banner or flag on the boat to indicate "Vagabond." By this time we were getting close to boarding, which was fine except the instructions said to arrive an hour early, and we were way past that. Of course the cold and seeing only one dolphin didn't help to make the trip rewarding. The captain was as nice and friendly as could be and he couldn't have been faulted for any of this.
Written March 24, 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Dev
2 contributions
1.0 of 5 bubbles
May 2023 • Friends
We had a terrible experience with this booking and Vagabond tours. Firstly, it is located in an area where parking is $9, which is fine but the entry personnel don’t accept any payment method but cash and are extremely rude. When we managed to get to the harbour just in time for our cruise, we were told it was canceled because of the weather. No communication was shared earlier despite the booking clearly saying we would be updated of any changes in schedule over email. When we probed further, we were told that it was a last minute cancellation as the agency didn’t think it was good weather for the waters. Admittedly, it was slightly overcast but we saw other tours departing at the same time, in the same conditions. Overall awful experience and a completely wasted evening for us. Our money was refunded but definitely wouldn’t recommend this booking to anyone!
Written May 25, 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Michael T
Roswell, GA23 contributions
3.0 of 5 bubbles
May 2024
This was my fourth cruise with Vagabond. The service from the ticket seller to the welcome to the first mate and server was all first class. I remembered the food as being pretty good for a cruise but this time maybe I ordered the wrong thing. The salad was ‘weeds’ and the mahi dried out and tasteless. I heard the pork was good. The weather was near perfect with a cloudy undramatic sunset. The boat was comfortable and Renee Captained her well.
I would go again and order differently.
Written May 6, 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Curiosity562362
1 contribution
2.0 of 5 bubbles
Jul 2023 • Family
I was very disappointed. Although this cruise was promoted as a "Gregg Russell" tour which focuses on children, the focus was clearly not on children. The captain of the boat gave the narrative of where we were sailing with details of interest to adults, not children. Gregg Russell, the "celebrity" billing for the cruise, only made a brief appearance with the children sitting on the very hot metal floor of the boat in the blazing sun. There, Gregg Russell lectured the children on not polluting the ocean. He sang only 2-3 songs and that was it. Not fun at all. Sadly, I would not recommend.
Written July 18, 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Cynthia T
Laurens, SC32 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Jun 2022 • Couples
Easy to book, easy to find and a pleasurable overall experience. As we were leaving the dock, the captain took us out to get a close up view of dolphins, which was an unexpected surprise. Overcast skies led to a cool, relaxing boat ride with incredible views. Parking at Harbour Town is a challenge, we took advantage of the Valet parking and it was worth every cent of the $10. The boat docked alittle after 10 PM and the valet was there with keys in hand for all passengers. He was very efficient, highly recommend.
Written June 15, 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Jennifer P
Exton, PA59 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Nov 2023 • Couples
We did the shrimp trawling trip and so glad we did. The many dolphins and scenery were worth the price of admission alone. Was very educational and will definitely be asking the Hilton Head restaurants if their shrimp are locally sourced as the industry is worth supporting. Each group left with a bag of shrimp at the end. Highly recommend.
Written November 12, 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

NYMac4
Black River, NY95 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Apr 2023 • Couples
We had never been to Savannah and thought this would be a fun and easy way to see the city and we were right :) We were visiting Hilton Head during the golf tournament week because that was my spring break. That made it a little more challenging but the representative from Vagabond gave us excellent directions on where to park and pick up the shuttle bus. Just be aware if you ever go this week there’s a line to catch the shuttle bus back to your car. The boat ride over was relaxing - drinks and snacks are available for purchase. They sell discounted trolley tickets right on the boat and an empty trolley was waiting - easy! Looking back we would have gotten off at more than one trolley stop because we had enough time but we weren’t sure. The trolley was a great way to see the sights in Savannah. Lots of shops and restaurants right where the boat unloads and loads so we ate lunch, shopped, and relaxed by the water before heading back to Hilton Head.
Written April 13, 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

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Vagabond Cruise - All You Need to Know BEFORE You Go (2025)

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